Music To My Pointy Ears
by hhgbh
Summary: What do you get when you cross a curious changeling with the dimension opening Gabriel's Horn? Beast Boy doesn't know either. But it should be fun finding out!
1. Curiosity

Music To My Pointy Ears

For years now, the Order of Tyboron had been steadily biding its' time. Gathering followers and collecting the sacred artifacts needed for the final ceremony. Now the wait was over. The stars were in alignment. The time was now.

The Order had assembled in an underground chamber for the summoning ceremony. The high priest Abaddon slowly made his way up to the sacrificial altar. Around the stone table, there was a circle of followers. They were all dressed in dark blue cloaks with the hoods pulled up over their heads. As their leader approached the altar and drew a curved dagger, the followers fell down upon their knees and let their foreheads touch the floor.

Upon the sacrificial table, bound by shackles, there lay a teenage boy with brown hair and green eyes. He stared nervously up at the dagger in Abaddon's hand; occasionally glancing at the kneeled figures surrounding him.

The high priest spoke in a loud, commanding voice,

"Brothers, our time has come! Once the words of Tyboron have been seeped in the life's blood of this sacrifice, he shall emerge from the void and grant us limitless power!"

This said; Abaddon turned his attention back to the boy on the altar. He lifted the dagger above his head, ready to plunge it into the teen's chest.

As his arm dropped, a red and yellow-tipped object flew from among the cloaked order. Abaddon let out a cry of pain as it struck his hand, and sent the dagger flying. He, along with the rest of his followers, turned to face the cause of this interruption.

Four of the cloaked figures rose and pulled back their hoods; revealing faces that every citizen of Jump City knew well.

"It's the Titans!" Upon seeing the young heroes, many of the room's occupants tried to run for the exit. But their escape attempt was blocked by a wall of dark energy, courtesy of the lavender haired sorceress Raven.

Upon the altar, the teen who was to have been the Order's sacrifice, raised his head and called out to the Titans,

"Dude, could you have cut that any closer?! I was almost skewered!"

His body then morphed into that of a green octopus. He was now able to slip his tentacles out of the metal shackles with ease. As he did so, something fell off of one of his appendages, and clattered to the floor. It was a silver ring with a blue circle adorning the top. As he took human form again, his appearance had altered greatly. His hair and skin were now green, his ears were pointed and, when he opened his mouth to speak again, fangs could be seen.

"Tell me again why _I_ had to be the dude on the chopping board?!" The Titan Beast Boy said.

"Well, it had to be one of us that got taken. Otherwise we'd have had no way of tracking these guys to this place." Robin, the dark haired leader of the Titans, replied.

"Yeah, BB. Besides, you were saying how you wanted to try out the new holo-ring I made." The mechanized teen Cyborg answered, with a teasing grin.

Abaddon growled with rage at the scene before him. His followers were huddled in a corner; afraid to move for the green eyed alien Starfire was standing in front of them, with a pair of glowing fists.

"Brothers!" He called out, in an attempt to rally them. "Do not let these mere mortals intimidate you! Fight back, so that we may bring forth Tyboron and smite the -"

"Oh, give it a rest, Eugene." Raven cut him off.

Beast Boy looked at the high priest with disbelief etched over his face.

"Eugene? As in, the guy who runs the comic book store, Eugene?" He stomped over to the now sheep-faced man. "I'm your best customer, and you were going to stick a knife into my heart!"

Robin managed to keep his face serious, but in truth he was finding it hard not to laugh.

"Okay team, let's finish up here. Make sure no one moves, while I call the police to come pick these guys up." He took out his communicator and proceeded to do so.

Cyborg walked over to the fallen dagger and picked it up.

"Man, who knew we had some demon worshippers in our very own town." He said.

"They're not demon worshippers." Said Raven.

"How so?"

"Well, for starters, the thing they were trying to summon; Tyboron; it's not a demon. A tyboron is an inter-dimensional creature. About the size of a wolf, scaly, big tusks. They're really just dumb animals that roam around between dimensions." Raven pointed to Eugene and his group. "These braincases were about to release a pack of vicious beasts that would've torn them to shreds."

Eugene's former followers all turned to glare at him.

Cyborg turned the dagger over in his metal fingers, noticing the words written in gold on the blade.

"So, if they're nothing special, why the whole ceremony thing? I mean, this dagger's got all magic words inscribed on it."

"Words? Let me see." Beast Boy took the dagger from Cyborg and sat down on the altar, looking at the inscriptions.

"In ancient times the tyboron could be summoned to be used in battle." Raven said, in reply to Cyborg's question. "However it took powerful magicks to keep them under control. Magicks I'm sure these guys don't possess. Nowadays, if a person knows how to open a book and light a scented candle, they think they're a master of the Dark Arts."

"Well, good thing we stopped the sacrifice then." Said Cyborg.

"Actually, that's another thing these guys messed up on." Said Raven. "While summoning demons does usually require a sacrifice of some kind, bringing forth mere animals like the tyboron is a much simpler process. You just place the dagger; a symbol of malice; on the altar, read the inscription and-"

"Qusarim loctor rectuum. Tenisar oktor tyboron." Raven and Cyborg turned around to see Beast Boy sitting on the altar, reading the words inscribed on the dagger.

"Hey, Raven." The green Titan called over to his wide-eyed team mate. "What do these words mean?"

There was a sound behind him, like the crack of lightning. Turning around slowly, Beast Boy saw a jagged line of light, floating in mid-air. The line then split, so that it resembled a giant tear. Within the tear, he could see the outlines of creatures with glowing eyes and sharp claws.

"Oh. Never mind."

--

Dimension X. The word 'bizarre' didn't nearly do justice to this alien world. It was an insane mix of colour and light; where the laws of physics, such as gravity, distance and even time didn't always apply. This place was home to a host of strange creatures, peculiar plant life, and one blue-clad teenager.

The hooded hero, known as the Herald, sat cross-legged on a large piece of floating landscape. He was watching the shifting "clouds" in the jagged sky. When he'd first arrived in this unique environment, he had found it pretty unsettling. But now, having spent a couple of years as a resident, this dimension was as familiar to him as Earth was. In fact, he had come to consider this place to be his home, even more than the planet of his birth.

A sudden sound interrupted his peaceful musing. It was like the sound of a lightning bolt. Unusual, because Dimension X didn't have lightning storms. Herald moved in the direction the sound had come from, leaping from one landmass to another.

As he landed atop of a rocky outcrop, Herald observed a worrying sight. There were two holes, seemingly floating just above ground level. Out of one, there came a pack of dangerous looking animals. They were four-legged, covered in green scales, with large white eyes and vicious tusks jutting out of their upper jaws. Not creatures native to Dimension X, but Herald had seen quite a few life forms pass through his world, on the way to others.

He landed on the ground behind them, as the first hole closed. The animals ran into the second one; which then sealed up behind them but, before it did, Herald was sure he spotted some familiar looking faces through the opening.

Deciding quickly on his choice of action, Herald reached into an inside pocket and brought out his weapon and tool that had led to his name; the Gabriel's Horn. He put the mouthpiece to his lips and blew.

--

"Beast Boy, I have to ask. Why?"

Raven was using her powers to form a protective barrier in front of herself and the green-skinned changeling. The tyboron were viciously attacking it with their claws and tusks. While most of her concentration was on maintaining the barrier, the cloaked Titan was also berating her younger team mate.

"Why can you never just leave well enough alone? You see a button; you have to push it. You see magical words inscribed on a mystical dagger; you have to read them out!"

"I can't help it! I'm just a curious person." Beast Boy answered. "Is it bad to want to learn new things?"

"When it leads to a pack of mindless, predatory, trans-dimensional animals being released into our world; yes!"

Around the spacious chamber, that the followers of Tyboron had been planning to use that night, the Titans were fighting with said animals. Starfire's role had changed from guarding Eugene's group, to protecting them. She flung starbolts and fired eyebeams at any of the creatures that got near the frightened men. It soon became apparent that the tyboron's scales served as a natural armor. While they did seem to find the starbolts painful, no real damage was being done.

Robin was having similar luck, fighting the beasts with his bo-staff. He leapt back, to avoid being gored by a pair of tusks. As he did so, he threw a pair of explosive disks that hit the animal in the face. It reared back, howling with pain. Robin used this opportunity to charge forward again and slam his staff into the side of its' head. The scaly creature hit the wall and lay stunned, but the Boy Wonder now found his hands full with two more.

Cyborg's sonic cannon seemed to be the most effective weapon against the tyboron. It was damaging their scales, and the beasts seemed to find the sound it made horrible. He blasted away a group that had been converging on Starfire; giving the girl some breathing space.

"They are proving most resilient." The orange-skinned Titan commented as she and Cyborg combined their firepower to keep the snarling creatures at bay.

Robin was on his back, with a tyboron on top of him; his bo-staff being the only thing keeping it from snapping his head off! Fortunately, help came in the form of a green tiger batting the monster away with a massive paw. The Titan's leader got back to his feet, and moved to where Raven was firing beams of black energy at their assailants.

"Raven, do you think you can send these things back to where they came from?" He asked.

"It'd be risky." She answered. "If I used my powers to tear open a dimensional gate down here, it could bring the whole place down on top of us."

The young heroes looked up as an abrupt sound cut through the air. Before they could recall what the familiar noise was, a perfectly circular opening appeared in the same place the tyboron had poured from. Out of it stepped a person the team instantly recognized.

"Herald, what're you doing here?" Raven quickly dispatched another beast with her powers, and then turned back to the honorary Titan. "Not that I'm not glad to see you."

"I saw these things come through my dimension." The boy answered. "When I saw where they were headed, I figured you could use a hand."

"Lucky for us." Said Robin. He then called out to his team, "Titans, we need to get them all grouped together!"

"No problem." Said Beast Boy. He then morphed into a gorilla and ran at the tyboron; swinging his powerful arms and knocking the creatures back.

Robin threw some smoke bombs which sent the animals running away with stinging eyes.

Cyborg continued the barrage with his sonic cannon, while Starfire concentrated her starbolt energy into beams. Together, they were herding the tyboron into a cluster.

Unfortunately, one of the beasts had been over looked. The one that Robin had stunned earlier. As it got back to its' feet, its' attention fell upon the person standing closest to it. Herald heard a loud snarl behind him, and turned to see one of the tyboron lunging at him. He leapt to the side, rolling along the floor, and landed in a kneeled position. But the creature had been quick to strike again; this time with its' tail.

The blow caught Herald in the midsection and knocked him hard against a wall. The tyboron pounced at the downed hero; its' jaws open and ready. Herald quickly brought his horn to his lips and the animal disappeared into a portal that had opened in its' path.

He pulled himself to his feet and aimed the instrument at the other creatures; which the Titans had managed to group together. Another portal opened in front of them. This one created a drag that pulled the tyboron into it. The opening closed behind the last of them and the chamber was silent. At least until Beast Boy spoke up.

"Dude! That horn is so cool!" The green-skinned teen ran up to Herald. "You gotta tell me how it works!"

"Well, it's pretty simple. You just -" Herald lifted his horn to show to Beast Boy, but then let out a pained hiss and put his hand over his ribs.

"Hey, are you okay?" Beast Boy asked; instantly concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just took a knock."

"Oh, that's okay. Raven can heal you up if you're hurt." Beast Boy pointed over his shoulder to the dark empath.

"Hold on. I want to know exactly how much damage we're talking here." Cyborg walked up to Herald and held his arm scanner over his midsection. "Hmm. I think we should get you back to the tower and give you a check up, just in case."

"Whoa, man. I'm sure it's nothing serious. I've taken worse hits than this." Herald put his hands up as he spoke. Starfire crossed her arms and leaned in closer to him.

"I am afraid there is no arguing with Cyborg once he is like this." She said. "You had best just go along with him."

The Titans all turned at the sound of a throat being cleared. Eugene was back on his feet; one hand behind his back, the other just under his chin.

"Well, that was certainly an… enlightening experience. But what's important is that everyone's safe and sound and we can all go on with our lives."

"You're still going to jail, Eugene." Said Raven.

"And that goes for the rest of you too." Robin added, pointing to his followers.

The former Order of Tyboron gave a collective groan.

--

Herald lay on one of the sickbeds in the infirmary of Titan's Tower. He was fighting the urge to drum his fingers on the mattress, as Cyborg was scanning his body with some of their equipment. His blue outfit and gloves, and black undershirt were folded on a small table next to the bed. His horn was next to them. The mask that covered his eyes and the top of his head was still on; tied like a bandana.

Raven stood nearby, while Beast Boy sat on another of the beds; casually swinging his legs over the side.

Finally, Cyborg straightened up.

"Looks like everything's okay." He said. "There's some bruising, but nothing's damaged."

"What'd I tell ya?" Herald sat up and reached for his shirt.

"It's better to be safe than sorry." Cyborg replied as he began putting the equipment away.

"Is he always such a mother hen?" Herald quietly asked Raven.

"You should've seen him when Beast Boy got the flu." She answered. "Of course, Beast Boy was acting like such a baby, I don't think he minded."

"Hey!" Beast Boy had overheard that comment. "Having the flu was horrible! I was all sniffly, I got headaches, and my throat was so sore I couldn't even talk!"

"Yes, that was a good week." Raven replied with a small smile. Beast Boy fumed, while Herald chuckled as he pulled his gloves on.

"Okay, Herald." Cyborg had finished tidying up, and was looking at the teen with a playful grin. "Since there's nothing wrong with you, you've got no excuse not to face me and Robin on the gamestation. And, believe me, you're gonna need medical attention after I'm through with you."

"Is that so?" Herald hopped off the bed and matched Cyborg's grin with his own. "We'll just see about that."

The two of them marched out of the infirmary. Raven walked behind them, muttering something about "boys".

Beast Boy was about to follow too, when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Herald had left his horn on the table.

The changeling stood eyeing it for a few seconds.

"I shouldn't." He said to himself. However, his feet seemed to be making their way over to the table.

"I really shouldn't."

He was now looking down at the instrument. Without really realizing it, he reached out and picked it up. He stood a few seconds more, just looking at the horn in his hand.

"I really, _really_ shouldn't."

He put the horn to his mouth and took a deep breath.


	2. He who dares

The mouthpiece of Herald's horn was just millimeters from Beast Boy's lips. He took a deep breath and prepared to blow.

Just then, the doors to the infirmary slid open. Beast Boy spun around at the noise; hiding the horn behind his back as he did so.

Starfire was standing in the doorway, looking around the room. Her gaze then settled on Beast Boy.

"Beast Boy, where is Herald? I wished to see if he was alright?"

"Oh yeah, he's fine." Beast Boy answered with what he hoped was a casual grin. "He and Cyborg went to go play on the gamestation with Robin."

"Oh, very well. I shall join them." Starfire turned around to leave, but then stopped and looked back at Beast Boy. "Is there a reason you are standing in the infirmary by yourself? I thought the medical equipment gave you the 'creeps'?"

"Um… yeah, but… Oh! Raven told me that the best way to overcome a fear is to face it. So, I figure if I stand around the needles and other sharp pointy things… by myself… they won't seem so bad after a while." Beast Boy kept his grin up, but he could feel the sweat starting to form on his forehead under Starfire's suspicious gaze. Finally the Tamaranean gave a small shrug.

"Very well. If that is what you wish." She stepped back out into the hall. "Good luck with the standing around the pointy objects."

The door slid shut behind the redheaded alien and Beast Boy let out the breath he'd been holding.

"Man, that was close." He then stopped and looked around the room he was in.

"Y'know Beast Boy," he said to himself. "You're lucky Starfire showed up when she did. You were about to do something really stupid."

He held up the horn in his hand.

"This thing could do a lot of damage if something went wrong." The green-skinned boy walked over to the large window that looked out towards the city. He could see the stars starting to come out in the late evening sky. Reaching up, he undid the catch and pushed the window open.

"If you're gonna try it out, do it outside where nothing can get broken."

With that, Beast Boy morphed into a falcon. He clutched the horn in his claws and flew out the open window.

--

Contrary to what some people believed; and to the various comments that Raven would make from time to time; Beast Boy was not an idiot. He would sometimes do things that many would consider idiotic. In fact; he himself would often look back and say to himself, "Man, I was an idiot to do that." But he didn't do those things as a result of a lack of intelligence. A lack of forethought would be a more accurate answer.

So as he was standing on the shore, a little way away from the city; he wasn't so much thinking of the possible consequences of fooling around with something that could open holes in dimensions. His head was filled with the curious question,

"So, how does this thing work anyway?"

Beast Boy examined the instrument in his hands.

"Okay, so this can open gates to pretty much anywhere in the universe. But how do you control _where_ it takes you?" He fingered the three pistons on the horn. "Maybe you have to do a certain combination with these thingies? But there're only three of them. That means you can only do… not a lot of combinations."

Beast Boy thought back to when he'd seen Herald use his horn to get them to the Brotherhood's base. Once Jericho had told them it was in Paris, Herald had just said "Done." and there was a gateway to the French capital right in front of them.

"Hmm… Maybe you have to think of where you want to go. Then you, like, blow your thoughts into the horn."

It was a sketchy theory at best, but Beast Boy didn't want to stand around all night thinking. He put the horn to his lips and pictured the pizza parlor in his head. The others couldn't get mad at him if he brought pizza home.

A deep buzzing sound emanated from the horn as Beast Boy blew. Blue waves of light shot out of the bell and formed a circular hole in front of the changeling. He couldn't quite make out what was on the other side, as he image was all blurry. But, heck, he'd gone this far…

Knowing it would take forever if he tried to make himself simply walk through the portal; Beast Boy took a few steps back, ran forward and leapt into the opening.

Part of him had been expecting some kind of long tunnel, or maybe a bright flash of light, like the transporters on 'Warp Trek'. Instead, the experience was more like simply stepping through a door. One moment he was on the beach; the next he was – Where was he?

Looking around, it was clear to Beast Boy that he was in a city. But it wasn't Jump City. The buildings were all different. Gone were the tall skyscrapers he saw whenever he went into town. There were buildings of various shapes though most were large and wide, and lightly coloured yellow and orange.

Beast Boy noticed that his sudden appearance had drawn some attention from passers-by. He could hear some of them talking to each other and a few were pointing in his direction. He guessed a green kid holding a horn wasn't something they saw every day.

"Um… hi." He tried waving to the gathered people, but most of them continued to stare at him. A few began to snicker.

"Er… could any of you maybe tell me where I am?"

A young kid stepped closer to Beast Boy. He looked the Titan up and down, then said,

"La vostra pelle è verde ed i vostri orecchi sono aguzzi."

"Huh?" Beast Boy looked at the people around him again. He now realized they were talking in a language he didn't understand. He also noticed something else. Over the tops of the buildings, he could see a very recognizable landmark.

"Is that the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Dude! This thing took me to Italy!" He held up the horn and shook it slightly, as if expecting an explanation for its' actions. He heard a giggle behind him, and turned to see a group of girls standing there. One of them was nudged forward by the others, and bent down slightly to talk to him,

"Scusilo. Siete uno del Teen Titans?"

Beast Boy had a pretty good idea of what that meant.

"Uh, yeah. I'm a Teen Titan." He answered with a nod.

The girls giggled again and started speaking to each other in excited tones. A small grin appeared on Beast Boy's face. Since he was here, he might as well see the sights. He tucked the horn into his belt and moved closer to the smiling girls.

"Say, would any of you ladies care for some pizza?"

--

Raven was calling it a day. She walked down the hallway, towards her room. As she passed by the infirmary, she noticed the doors were open. Herald was inside. He was looking around the sickbeds and tables.

"Lose something?" Raven stepped inside the room.

"Yes, as a matter of fact." Herald replied. "I'd just realized that I left my horn in here. But I can't find it anywhere."

Their clothing fluttered slightly as a cold breeze blew in through the open window. Raven went to close it, when she suddenly stopped. She distinctly remembered Beast Boy being the last person in this room. She also remembered him being the only one not present in the main room all evening. She herself had not been paying much attention to what the others were doing, but she was sure that if Beast Boy had been there, she would've heard him. His voice wasn't exactly something that was easy to ignore.

She looked at the window again. That had not been open when she and the others had left the infirmary.

Hmm… Missing horn. Missing Beast Boy.

Herald cocked an eyebrow as Raven closed her eyes and her hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Oh, tell me he didn't." She groaned.

--

Beast Boy strolled down the street; a beaming smile on his face. It turned out the Titans' exploits had earned them popularity the world over; especially with their fellow teenagers. Those girls had been thrilled to be having a pizza with a Teen Titan. _And_ they had laughed at all his jokes! (The thought that the girls probably didn't understand a word he was saying never crossed Beast Boy's mind.)

Ooh and the pizza! It seems you really can't beat the original recipe. It was times like this that Beast Boy was glad he didn't always think things through. He'd miss out on so much fun stuff.

He took the horn out of his belt. He should probably get home before the others got worried. If he was lucky, Herald might not even have noticed his horn was missing yet.

Okay, this time he would concentrate even harder on where he wanted to go. Beast Boy visualized the beach he'd been standing on before in his mind.

"Okay Beast Boy, focus. Picture the beach. The sand… the sea… the sand… the sea."

He put the horn to his mouth and blew. The image through the portal was blurry once again, but Beast Boy could distinctly hear the ocean through it.

"Okay, here goes." He stepped through -

- and fell into water. His body was submerged entirely, but he quickly swam up to the surface and gasped for air.

Beast Boy looked around. In all directions, as far as he could see, there was nothing but water.

"Huh, I guess I shoulda focused less on sea and more on sand."


	3. Deep Trouble

Beast Boy lay on his back, floating in the ocean. He wasn't sure which part of the ocean he was in exactly (it wasn't like there were any signposts around).

As he lay there, he held the horn up in front of his face. Apparently, thinking of where you wanted to go and blowing wasn't enough. Beast Boy thought again of the times he'd seen Herald use his horn. He was pretty sure that the hooded boy had pressed at least one of the pistons each time.

"Hmm, okay. I'll try thinking of where I wanna go, and pressing each button in turn. That's bound to get me at least _near_ home." The changeling said to himself.

Unknown to Beast Boy, below the surface of the water, a great white shark was swimming. The large fish looked up and saw the outline of something floating on the water. His nose told him it was something alive. The beast's predatory instincts took over and he raced to the surface, opening his gigantic jaws wide.

Beast Boy was taking a breath to blow into the horn, when the water suddenly seemed to erupt beneath him. Out of reflex, he changed. The thought in his head; 'Small target! Small target!'

The shark clamped his jaws shut, expecting to feel flesh rip under his teeth. Instead, there was nothing. Casting his head around and sniffing the water, the shark could find no trace of his potential meal. Now knowing that there was nothing here to eat, the shark turned and began swimming down back to the depths.

Inside the marine hunter's water filled jaws, a tiny green seahorse floated. Beast Boy hooked his tail around the horn, that'd fallen in with him. He stared at the razor sharp teeth that lined the inside of the shark's mouth, and wondered if it was possible to hyperventilate with gills.

'Oh dude! Oh dude! I've been eaten! I've been eaten!'

He finally managed to calm himself down enough to think straight. All he had to do was find a way to make the shark want to spit him out. Quickly going through in his head all the possible animal forms he could take; it wasn't long before he figured out the best move.

The shark swam peacefully through the water, until suddenly his pitch black eyes widened. He began thrashing around wildly, until he finally opened his mouth and expelled a sparking green electric eel!

Beast Boy sent a couple more electric shocks the shark's way, until the alarmed animal turned tail and quickly swam away from his assailant. He spotted the horn slowly drifting down through the water. Morphing into a dolphin, he dived down, caught it in his mouth and swam back towards the surface.

Unfortunately, Beast Boy didn't notice his communicator sinking into the darkness of the ocean depths.

--

"Man, I can't believe I let that horn out of my sight." Herald was sitting on the couch in the main room. His elbow was on his knee and his forehead was resting in his palm.

"I can't believe I let _Beast Boy_ out of my sight." Raven was sitting next to him.

The other Titans were sat around the room, except for Robin who was standing in front of the couch.

"Can we be certain that Beast Boy took Herald's horn?" Starfire spoke up. "Surely he would not be so foolish as to tamper with something so potentially dangerous."

"Star, you are talking about the same Beast Boy as us, right?" Said Cyborg. "Dangerous stuff is all he ever tampers with! Do I have to remind everyone of a certain trip to T.V. land, courtesy of Mr. Curious and a big flashing button?"

Robin held up his hand for silence.

"Look. Let's just call Beast Boy and find out where he is first." The Boy Wonder took out his communicator and flipped it open.

"Robin calling Beast Boy. Where are you? Over."

There was no answer on the other end.

"Beast Boy? Beast Boy, answer me." Robin tried again, not knowing that his calls were only attracting a few curious flatfish. He flipped the device shut and faced the other Titans. "Okay team, we're going to go look for him."

Just then, the alarm sounded out. Flashing red lights blinked on and off, accompanied by the buzzing siren.

Cyborg activated the main computer screen. An image appeared showing a man, dressed in black, with a dark mullet. He was riding a motorcycle and swinging a steel bat at everything he passed; cars, telephone boxes, store windows. The Titans instantly knew who he was.

"Jonny Rancid." Robin's eyes narrowed at the sight of the anarchist.

"Looks like he's not alone." said Cyborg.

Indeed, following behind Rancid were two other troublemakers the Titans knew well. Leaping from roof to vehicle to pavement, and not caring how much damage was done to any of which, was the armored terror Adonis. His blue battlesuit seemed to have received some upgrades. Small jetpacks in its' legs propelled him a short distance into the air, allowing him to come crashing down with powerful force.

Above the others, the third member of the trio flew through the air. He was a skinny young man with beady red eyes and spiky bleached white hair. He wore a sleeveless orange jumpsuit with various zippers and badges adorning it. His ride was, amazingly enough, an electric guitar. He rode upon it like a surfboard, as it swooped through the air. This villain was known to the Titans as Punk Rocket.

"Titans, let's move!" On Robin's command, the Titans headed towards the door. Suddenly, Raven stopped.

"Wait. What about Beast Boy?"

Robin looked back at her. The fact that Beast Boy wasn't answering his communicator was cause enough for concern; but knowing what he had with him…

"Okay. Raven, you and Herald take the T-Ship. Use its' long-range sensors to try and get a lock on Beast Boy's locator. The rest of us will handle this."

And so the team split into two. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg moved towards the garage, where the T-Car and R-Cycle were waiting. Raven and Herald headed for the launch silo, where the T-Ship was kept.

"I hope we find him before he gets himself sucked into a black hole." Raven said as she flew down the hallway.

"Why Raven, you actually sound worried." Herald remarked.

"Look. Just because I want to strangle the little idiot most of the time, doesn't mean I don't like him." She replied.

--

"Uh, heh heh… How's it going?"

Beast Boy smiled awkwardly as he looked out at the room of people; all staring at him. In particular were the bride and groom. They'd been about to begin their first dance as husband and wife, when this green person had fallen out of a hole in the air; followed by a large amount of water, which had drenched the band they had hired.

Beast Boy stood up, trying to wring some water out of his suit. He noticed a microphone standing next to him. Never having been able to resist an audience, he reached out and took it in his hand.

"So… an Englishman, an Irishman and an American walk into a bar. The barman looks up and says, 'What is this? Some kind of joke?'"

The punchline was met with a wave of silence.

"Get it? 'Coz there're a lot of jokes about an Englishman, an Irishman and… um… I'll just let myself out."

He moved quickly offstage, and followed the wall until it led to a door. Bursting outside, he wiped his brow and took a look around. This town didn't look familiar either.

"Excuse me, sir?" Beast Boy called out to a man walking by. "Could you tell me what city I'm in? Is it anywhere near Jump?"

The man looked at him with a cocked eyebrow.

"Jump city? Boy, you _must_ be lost! This is Manchester. You're in England!"

"Man, _still_ not close. Well, thanks." Beast Boy began walking down the street, rubbing his chin. At this rate, he was going to wind up everywhere on the planet _but_ home. Okay, the having pizza with cute Italian girls had been fun, but the nearly being eaten alive by a great white shark hadn't been. And now he was wet, tired and hopelessly lost. He stopped walking and sighed. It was time to call the others for help.

"Oh boy, Herald is gonna be so mad at me." Beast Boy muttered to himself as he reached for his communicator – only to find that it wasn't there! He patted his suit in a fruitless attempt to find it.

"This isn't good." Now was one of those times when Beast Boy would say to himself, "Man, I was an idiot to do that."

Well, there was nothing for it. He'd just have to keep trying with the horn. Beast Boy held the instrument up and spoke to it in a pleading tone,

"_Please_, take me to Jump City! Anywhere in Jump will do. I can make my own way home after that."

Beast Boy closed his eyes and blew into the horn. Another portal appeared. Once again, the image was somewhat blurry but Beast Boy could see walls. Wherever he was going, at least it would be inside.

Stepping through the portal, Beast Boy found himself inside a bedroom. It was simple, with only a bed, a desk with a lamp on it and a chair. The walls were entirely bare and a dull brownish colour.

The second he'd arrived, Beast Boy was aware of the sound of running water. He turned around to see an open door. It led to a bathroom, complete with a shower cubicle. This was where the running water was coming from. Steam was rising out of the cubicle, concealing its' occupant.

'Uh, oh. I'd better leave.' Beast Boy thought to himself. He didn't want to get caught in someone else's bedroom, just as they were coming out of the shower. He looked around for a window to escape out of, except there wasn't any.

'What the…? What kind of weirdo has a room with no windows?'

He then turned his attention to the door. At least the room had one of those! But there was no handle. Instead, there was a keypad with numbered buttons on the side. Beast Boy stood with his fist on his hips. Whoever lived here certainly liked their privacy. His eyes then wandered up the door, where an insignia was printed.

His jaw dropped and his ears drooped.

The insignia consisted of an orange circle with a black pointed 'S' adorning it.

Beast Boy's head snapped back to the bathroom. There was no sign that the figure in the shower had become aware of his presence, and he'd like to keep it that way. He held up the horn again and whispered to it,

"Stupid horn. I know I said anywhere in Jump, but did you have to land me in the home of our most dangerous enemy?!"

He cast one more glance to the bathroom, and spotted something lying by the sink. It was a metal face mask; one side black, the other side orange with a single eye hole. Beast Boy stood looking at it, his fingers twitching by his side. Slowly, a mischievous grin crept onto his face.

The shower's occupant stiffened slightly at what sounded like a horn being blown. He turned the water off and listened. There was nothing. He peered out, into his room. No sign of an intruder. Certain that he had heard something; he reached out for a towel and tied it around his waist. He then went for his mask. His hand patted the flat surface beside the sink. It roamed around, searching for the metal object, but found nothing.

--

Beast Boy stepped out of the portal, which closed behind him. His face was one big toothy grin. He held the mask up in front of his face and said,

"I'm gonna make a fortune on eBay!"

He then took a look around, and the grin dropped from his face. He was in the middle of a desert. The fanged boy groaned and looked at the horn.

"This is because I called you a stupid horn, isn't it?"


	4. Aching For Anarchy

The roar of the motorcycle's engine mixed with the sounds of its' owner's laughter and the smashing of anything breakable on the streets of Jump City. Jonny Rancid reveled in destruction. He wasn't the kind of criminal that was looking for wealth or status. He just loved to see the looks of fear in people's eyes when they saw him coming. It gave him a sense of power.

During his most recent time in jail, Rancid had joined up with two guys who shared his attitude. Adonis liked to beat down on "wimps" using the mechanical muscle of his battlesuit, and Punk Rocket enjoyed bringing the house down (or any other type of building for that matter) with his suped-up guitar.

The three of them had cleared the surrounding streets, sending citizens running for cover, and were about to head uptown for some more carnage. However, around the corner, they were met by a very special roadblock.

Robin sat atop his R-Cycle; the engine still running and his hands gripping the handlebars. His usual helmet and cape had been replaced. The headgear he wore now was black with a yellow beak-like visor, and his cape now had jagged edges.

Next to the R-Cycle was the T-Car; its' engine revving and it's headlights on full. Cyborg was behind the steering wheel.

Starfire was in the air, above the boys. Her fists and eyes were already glowing with green energy, indicating that she was ready for battle.

Rancid grinned at the sight of the new arrivals.

"Well look who it is, guys. Bird-Boy and the Teeny Titans!"

Adonis massaged his knuckles; a cocky smirk adorning his features.

"Great. I was starting to get bored!"

Punk Rocket steered his ride down to the ground, and took it in his hands.

"Yeah mates. Let's crank it up!"

With that, he hit the strings of his guitar and sent a powerful shockwave that shattered the tarmac of the road as it flew towards the young crimefighters.

Robin and Cyborg each steered their vehicles out of harm's way, while Starfire flew above the destruction zone.

"Titans go!"

At Robin's command, Starfire swooped down to bomb-dive the jumpsuit wearing villain. Punk Rocket quickly leapt back upon his guitar and flew down the street, with the redhead in hot pursuit.

Robin rode straight towards Rancid. The tattooed man smiled and veered his bike around, speeding away from the boy.

"You wanna race, birdie? Then let's ride!"

The two bikers sped along the road. Rancid's face was one of wicked pleasure, Robin's of grim determination.

Adonis took a different approach from that of his partners. Rather than turning away from the T-Car, he bounded towards it. Holding the wheel steady, Cyborg leaned out of the car window and aimed his sonic cannon at the blue behemoth. Just as he fired, the jetpacks in Adonis' legs activated and he rocketed into the air. The boosters cut out and, as gravity took over, Adonis plummeted down. He landed, feet first, on the T-Car's roof and took off again.

"Catch me if you can, loser!" He called back to Cyborg as he bounded away.

Cyborg looked up at the twin dents that Adonis' armored feet had made in the roof of his car. His human eye narrowed dangerously.

"Oh, you did _not_ just do that!"

Turning the wheel with both hands, the bionic hero drove after Adonis.

--

Robin twisted the throttle, giving his R-Cycle a burst of speed that brought him up next to Rancid.

"Don't you ever get tired of pointless destruction?!" He called out over the roar of the engines.

Rancid chuckled in response,

"You got it all wrong, Bird-Boy! All this fun and games was just the warm-up!"

He then pushed a button on the frame between the handlebars on his bike. A small panel opened and Robin could see a round metal object with a blinking red light on the top. What was more alarming was the timer face with the numbers counting down from ten minutes! He looked up at Rancid's grinning face.

"This little baby is the main event! And I'm sure the folks at Town Hall are gonna go ballistic over it!"

Rancid squeezed a lever underneath the right handlebar. Glowing red streaks appeared on his black bike. Fire began to spew from the exhaust. He laughed out loud as the motorcycle rose from the road and took off through the air, leaving a trail of flames behind.

Robin's eyes narrowed under his visor. Rancid wasn't going to get away that easily. He reared the R-Cycle back, bringing one wheel off of the road. As the bike came down again, he leapt forward, landing on the front of the frame. Quickly slipping his hands through the small handles in his cape, Robin activated the thrusters in his boots, which he had also changed. He held his arms up and his cape spread out like a pair of bird wings. Rising into the air, Robin continued his chase, leaving the R-Cycle to automatically come to rest at the side of the road.

--

In the opposite direction that Robin and Rancid were going, another airborne chase was happening. Starfire was throwing starbolt after starbolt, trying to knock Punk Rocket off of his gravity-defying guitar. Unfortunately, the Britrocker proved to be very agile in the air. He ducked and weaved around the glowing projectiles sent his way; sometimes performing mid-air maneuvers like a professional skateboarder.

Punk Rocket flew towards a skyscraper. He disappeared around it, out of Starfire's sight. She flew around the other side, hoping to cut him off, but found that the white haired menace was waiting for her. He swung the guitar upward, so that it was facing Starfire. One scrape across the strings produced a screeching chord and shockwaves. Starfire instinctively brought her arms up to protect herself, but they did little against the powerful sound vibrations and she was sent into free fall.

"Happy landings, love!" Punk Rocket called after the falling Titan. He then turned his guitar around and began flying away.

Starfire had been temporarily stunned by Rocket's shockwaves. The rushing wind in her ears brought her back to reality and she instantly took action. Reaching deep within, she summoned up the joy she felt whenever her friends were around. Her descent slowed, she came to a stop and then shot back up, after Punk Rocket.

The guitarist looked over his shoulder to see Starfire coming up behind him fast.

"Come back for an encore 'ave we?"

He swung his guitar up again but, when he reached for the strings, he had to pull his hand back to avoid getting it zapped by Starfire's eyebeams. The Tameranean narrowed her eyes, thinning the beams.

Punk Rocket held on to his ride, keeping its' body between him and the alien.

"You'll 'ave to do better than that, love!" He said. "My axe is made to 'old out against yer most powerful blasts!"

Starfire swooped down, and came up the other side of the bleached blond.

"That may be…" She said.

Punk Rocket swept his hand over the guitar strings, but nothing happened. He looked down and saw, to his horror, that the strings were dangling limply from the guitar; their ends singed and smoking.

"But the same does not apply to the guitar strings." Starfire finished, and flew forward at full speed towards Punk Rocket.

"Oh bugger."

The beady-eyed criminal didn't have time to move before Starfire torpedoed into him, knocking him off of his ride. Reaching out with her right hand, Starfire caught Punk Rocket by the back of his suit. The neck of his guitar she caught with her left.

Flying over to a flat-roofed building, Starfire dropped him onto the hard concrete. Then, taking the guitar in both hands, she smashed it against the floor in a way Pete Townshend would've been proud of.

Punk Rocket stared forlornly at the pieces of his instrument. But his expression turned to one of fear as he looked up at the alien standing over him with glowing eyes. She reached down and pulled him up by his lapels, so that his feet were dangling in the air, and said firmly,

"The show is over."

--

The wheels of the T-Car screeched as Cyborg narrowly avoided getting stomped again by Adonis. The teenage brute had now gone on the offensive, and the surrounding street was covered in dents and small craters.

Cyborg could see that this wasn't getting him anywhere. Time to get up close and personal. He turned the car towards Adonis and put his foot down on the pedal hard. The T-Car sped at the criminal head on. The smirk on Adonis' face grew.

"Oh you wanna play chicken, huh?" he said. "Come on, wimp! I can take it!"

He ran towards the oncoming car, with his fist drawn back.

'Just as I thought.' Cyborg waited until the T-Car and Adonis were just a few metres away from each other. He then pushed a button on the dashboard and the car's roof flew off! He leapt forward from the vehicle, and threw a punch towards the only part of Adonis' body that wasn't covered in armor; his face.

Adonis was unable to stop in time, and he ran right into Cyborg's fist! The blow sent him flying back, smashing into a lamppost that toppled over under his weight. He sat up with his hands over his face. Giving out a muffled cry,

"You son of a – Look what you did to me!"

He removed his hands to show that he was bleeding from both nostrils, and had a tooth missing.

"Trust me, man." Cyborg said, patting his fist. "It's an improvement."

Adonis let out an enraged howl and picked up the fallen lamppost. He swung it at Cyborg like a club. The dark-skinned boy caught the post with both hands and held tight, keeping Adonis from swinging it again.

The armored pectorals on Adonis' suit began pumping with extra speed as its' wearer summoned up more strength. He heaved on the lamppost, lifting it upward. Cyborg's eye widened as he felt his feet leaving the floor.

"Oh boy. Whooooa!"

Adonis turned and slammed Cyborg into the ground behind him; the lamppost coming down on top of the mechanized Titan.

Cyborg groaned and rubbed the human part of his head. He looked up, just in time to see Adonis come crashing down on him, feet first! Cracks ran along the ground around the combatants, and Cyborg let out a cry of pain as the metal chassis on his chest began to buckle.

After a few more stomps, Adonis stepped away from the downed teen. He walked over to where the T-Car was stood and, with a grunt of effort, lifted the heavy vehicle up over his head.

Cyborg painfully rolled himself over, onto his front. He could see Adonis walking over to him, holding the T-Car above his head. He pushed himself up to his hands and knees. His right arm transformed into his sonic cannon and he took aim at the suited menace's midsection.

"Oooh, is that supposed to scare me? Go on, loser. Take your best shot!"

"My best shot's all I've got." said Cyborg.

He lowered his cannon away from Adonis' torso and fired, at his right foot. As the blue coloured beam hit the suit's hoof-like foot, the metal began to shatter and pieces of it flew off.

With the sudden weakness of his right side, Adonis lost his balance. He tried to steady himself by stepping back, but the weight of the T-Car caused him to topple over. The vehicle landed on him, pinning him to the ground.

Cyborg stood upright; his hand reverting back to normal and moving to his damaged chestplate. He'd have to make a few repairs when he got back to the tower, but he'd live. He walked over to the T-Car and looked down at the grimacing villain trapped underneath it.

"Herald told me about how Mas exposed your suit's little weakness." he said. "Y'know, you should consider changing your name from Adonis to Achilles."

--

Robin's teeth gritted in frustration. He was running out of time. Rancid was closing in on Jump City's Town Hall, and there couldn't be more than a few minutes left on the bomb's timer. He'd made several attempts to get close enough to grab it, or maybe knock Rancid off course. But every time, the mad motorcyclist would strike out at him with his metal bat, or try to fry him with the bike's flaming exhaust.

Putting his thrusters on full power, Robin soared upwards until he was above Rancid's bike. Taking his hands out of the handles on his 'wings', he reached into his utility belt and let loose a number of smoke pellets. These hit Rancid's head, body and ride; covering all in thick smoke.

Rancid coughed as the blinding smoke enveloped him. He twisted the throttle and the exhaust flames increased in power, driving the bike out of the smoke cloud. As his vision cleared, Rancid was surprised to see Robin perched on the frame of his bike, reaching for the explosive! He got over his shock quick enough to grab Robin's arm before he could get the bomb.

"Not so fast, birdie!"

He flung the boy over his shoulder, intending to send him sailing off the bike. But, as he let go, Robin grabbed a hold of his thick wrist and used it to swing himself around; delivering a kick to the side of the thug's head.

The bike swerved dangerously as Robin and Rancid continued to fight.

"What're you, crazy?!" cried Rancid. "You're gonna make us crash!"

"What's the matter, Rancid? I thought you liked living on the edge!" Robin replied as he delivered another kick to Rancid's back.

All the jostling finally caused the bike to crash land on top of a building sporting a billboard for a brand of milk. Both riders were thrown from the vehicle.

Robin rolled along the floor before coming to a stop. Thanks to his suit and helmet, he was mostly unharmed. Rancid however had been knocked unconscious and was stuck in the billboard sign, his head replacing that of the cartoon cow on the advertisement.

Robin ran over to Rancid's motorcycle and picked up the explosive. There was only thirty seconds left! What was worse was that Rancid had sealed the inner workings inside a metal ball that was welded closed. There was no way Robin would be able to break it open and diffuse the bomb in time.

Robin set his jaw. There was only one option.

--

Cyborg straightened up, dusting off his hands. He and Starfire had restrained Punk Rocket and Adonis by wrapping the broken lamppost around them. Adonis had been stripped of his bulky battlesuit, revealing his skinny frame.

"That's two down and one to go." said Cyborg. "Let's go see if Robin needs any help."

"Wait. There he is." Starfire pointed to the sky.

Cyborg looked up and, sure enough, he could see the outline of Robin's glider against the night sky. He was flying straight up into the air.

"What's he doing?" Cyborg thought aloud.

Suddenly, an ear shattering bang filled the sky as the figure disappeared in a huge explosion!

"Robin!" Starfire instantly took off into the air, flying towards the cloud of smoke that now hung in the sky. Cyborg was too stunned to move.

"_Starfire, Cyborg, come in._" Starfire stopped in midair. She picked up her communicator.

"Robin, is that you?"

"_Yeah, Star. I'm down here. Tell Cyborg I'm going to need a new glider._"

Starfire looked down to see Robin standing on a nearby rooftop, minus his helmet, cape and boots. She dropped down in front of him, and threw her arms around his body in a fierce hug.

"Oh Robin, I thought for sure that you were…" She didn't want to finish that sentence, so instead squeezed him tighter.

Robin would've said some words of comfort, if not for the fact that he was currently struggling to breathe. He'd always thought, at some point, that he would get used to Starfire's hugs. But that day had yet to come.

Starfire finally let go of him and, once he'd gotten his breath back, they were able to take Rancid to join his partners. Now Robin's concern shifted from the welfare of the city to the welfare of his friends. He hoped Raven and Herald had had some luck in finding Beast Boy.


	5. Off The Radar

"Come on, let go!"

At the same time that Robin and the others were battling Rancid's gang in Jump City, Beast Boy was locked in a battle of his own. The latest place that Herald's horn had taken him to was the icy shores of Alaska. The green-skinned hero had never been fond of the cold, and would've liked to have left by now. But a polar bear cub had other ideas.

"I said, let go! This is not a chew toy!"

Beast Boy had hold of the horn by its' bell and was trying to tug it out of the cub's jaws. Despite his small size, the young polar bear proved to have a very strong grip, and barely moved as Beast Boy continued to heave on the instrument.

"Okay, fine. You asked for it."

Beast Boy morphed into a large sasquatch. He gave a mighty roar at the cub, causing him to release his grip on the horn's mouthpiece in surprise. The changeling returned to his human form and looked at the horn.

"Eww! Baby polar bear spit!"

He started using his uniform to try and clean the mouthpiece. He then became aware that the polar bear cub was letting out loud bark-like cries.

"Hey, don't you start with that." He said. "You lost fair and square. What're you gonna do? Tell on me to your -"

A deep growl sounded out behind the Titan. He looked down at the ground and saw a huge shadow stretching out in front of him. His shoulders visibly slumped. He really didn't want to turn around, but he knew he had to.

Standing before him now was an adult female polar bear. She was up on her hind legs; her massive form towering over Beast Boy. The changeling lifted a finger and opened his mouth to say something,

"Ahhhhh….. Oh, forget it."

He threw the horn up into the air. The polar bear was distracted as the object flew over her head. Beast Boy meanwhile slid between her legs, on his stomach, in the form of a penguin. He caught the horn in his beak as it came down, and slid down an icy slope away from the white bear.

Beast Boy's eyes widened as he saw that he was heading towards the ocean.

'Oh, no. Not again!'

Fortunately, he hit a rough patch of ice that slowed him down. He finally came to a stop with his head peeking over the frozen ledge, above the water. He turned back into a human and took the horn out of his mouth.

"Phew! That was -"

There was a cracking noise from the ice directly below him.

"Oh crud."

The ledge shattered and he fell, head-first, into the water.

--

"Okay, we got a fix on him." Herald studied the electronic map on the small view screen in front of him. "This time, he's on the western coast of Alaska."

"Alright." Raven adjusted the controls and the T-Ship changed its' direction. She was seated in the centre pod; the one that was usually occupied by Beast Boy. Herald was in the rear pod.

The T-Ship's engines were on full power, but Raven wasn't sure if they'd make it to Beast Boy before –

"Wait. He's gone again." said Herald. "I'll reset the scanners."

A low growl of frustration escaped Raven's lips. She took a calming breath and held it, before letting it out slowly. She didn't want to accidentally fry the controls and crash the T-Ship.

"If he would just stay in one place, we could come and pick him up. Doesn't he realize that?" Herald leant his head back against his seat. "I don't get it. During the fight against the Brotherhood, Beast Boy was so… together. He took command, kept us from giving up, formed a battle plan; acted like a real leader. Then, the minute the danger was over, he became this goofy kid that made bad puns about brain freeze. And now _this_! Hard to believe he's the same guy."

"I've known Beast Boy longer than you." replied Raven. "And I've noticed that when things are at their worst, he can always be counted on to do the right thing. I know I'm always glad to have him by my side in a crisis."

There was a pause before Raven spoke again.

"It's the rest of the time I can't stand him."

Herald chuckled and returned his attention to the scanners. Maybe he should start spending more time on Earth. The place had a special sort of chaos to it that could be really fun.

--

"Verlassen sie ein mein geschäft, sie grün-enthäutete, spitze eared sache!"

Beast Boy dashed out of the German butcher shop; various meats falling off of him as he ran. The shop's owner; a somewhat large and irate man; was shouting after him. Beast Boy didn't have a clue as to what he was saying but, from the sheer volume of his voice, he guessed it wasn't friendly.

"Hey pal, I'm not exactly having a great day myself!" he called over his shoulder.

Once he'd put enough distance between them, so that he could no longer hear the shop owner's yells, Beast Boy stopped to catch his breath. He gripped his hair in both hands and screamed through clenched teeth. To say he hadn't been having a great day was the king of all understatements!

First there was the ocean (with the shark). Then there was the wedding reception (after which he'd discovered he'd lost his communicator). Then you-know-who's house (okay, the getting the mask had been pretty cool). But then there was the desert (just before a sandstorm hit). After that was the polar bear (and the ocean, again!) After _that_ he'd wound up in some sort of underground temple (it turned out arrow traps, falling spikes and snake pits didn't just exist in the movies). And then he'd shown up in a labour ward at a Canadian hospital (he was going to have nightmares for weeks after that!)

And now… Beast Boy sniffed his uniform. Eww! He smelt like bratwurst!

Gripping the cause of all his troubles in both hands; he blew into the mouthpiece as hard as he could, while pushing all three pistons at once. He didn't really care where he was going next. After what he'd been through, things could only get better.

A hole appeared in front of him, only this time he could clearly see what was on the other side. Blue grass swayed under a purple sky, and certain familiar creatures with green scales and large tusks roamed around the land.

Beast Boy's eyes widened. He definitely didn't want to go there! But it seemed he wasn't being given a choice in the matter. He felt a strong pull on his body, dragging him towards the opening. As he lost his footing, he tried to grab hold of the edge of the hole; but since tears in dimensions aren't solid objects, there wasn't anything for him to grab on to.

The changeling screamed as he fell out of the opening and landed hard on the ground. He lifted his head up, only to yelp and scurry backwards as he came face to face with one of the tyboron.

The creatures had all turned their attention to the green boy. He noticed some of them were stepping away from the skeleton of some kind of large animal. Beast Boy gulped. It looked like he'd arrived just in time for desert.

The tyboron formed a tight circle around Beast Boy, and began to move in. Getting to his feet, Beast Boy put the horn in his mouth and morphed into a triceratops. He charged at the creatures surrounding him, and managed to barge past them to open ground.

The tyboron quickly recovered and two of them rammed into Beast Boy's side, causing him to fall to the ground and revert back to human form. The horn had fallen from his mouth. Beast Boy reached for it, but had to pull his hand back to avoid having it snapped off by a pair of vicious jaws. He rolled out of the way when the monster tried to gore him.

Morphing again, this time into a cheetah, Beast Boy ran for all he was worth. He knew he was leaving the horn behind, but right now he didn't mind so long as he left the tyboron behind too.

--

"Anything?"

Herald checked the scanners again.

"No, nothing." He answered Raven. "This is the longest we've gone without picking up his signal. You know what that could mean."

Raven was silent as she considered the possibility that Beast Boy was no longer on their realm of existence. Her thoughts were interrupted by a beeping from her communicator. She flipped it open and Robin's face greeted her.

"Raven, any luck with finding Beast Boy."

"No. His signal's completely disappeared. That could mean he's been transported to another dimension."

Robin's eyes narrowed.

"Is there any way we could find him?"

Raven nodded.

"I know a way. I can use my powers to transfer my soul-self into the dimensional stream. Once there, I should be able to pick up Beast Boy's energy and find out where he is."

"Is that safe?" Asked Robin.

"It's fine. It's how I found Herald the first time." Raven replied.

"Well, okay. Can you do it back at the tower?"

"We're over an hour away, and there's no telling what could happen to Beast Boy in that time. I want to do this as soon as possible."

Robin looked like he was about to argue at first, but Raven held his gaze firmly and finally he nodded.

"Do what you have to, Raven. Robin out."

Raven put her communicator away and began searching for a place to land. Herald had stayed quiet throughout the conversation, but she could sense a small amount of uneasiness coming from the boy.

"What?"

Herald was going to answer with a "nothing", but decided to be honest. Raven could probably tell if he was lying.

"You didn't tell Robin how it would affect your powers, or what would happen if you were to be injured while in your soul-self."

"Of course not. He'd only have tried to talk me out of it.

There. We can set down on that island."

The T-Ship began to descend and Raven said no more. It seemed to Herald that the conversation was closed.


	6. Show Stopper

Raven floated several feet off the ground, in her lotus position. Herald stood some distance away; remaining silent so as not to disturb her concentration. He didn't have magical powers, like the girl before him, but living in Dimension X had taught him the value of maintaining a calm mind.

Raven opened her eyes, and said in a still voice,

"I'm ready."

Herald nodded. He wasn't going to bother trying to talk her out of it. Raven understood the risks probably even better than he did. And it wasn't like soul-projection was something she was new at. He would just have to keep an eye on her body until she got back.

Raven started chanting an incantation. The outline of her body began to glow with dark energy. As she came to the end of the spell, she finished with her usual magic words,

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Her eyes now blazed with white light, and the energy around her formed above her head in the shape of a large black bird. With a screech, the bird spun itself into a dark cyclone and disappeared from sight; leaving Raven's body in a state of trance, floating above the ground.

Raven allowed her consciousness to reach out and probe the shimmering blue space around her. Searching the entire dimensional stream for a single person could take years for a normal human. Fortunately, her _unique_ heritage meant that the process would be quicker for Raven. Besides, her empathic powers could usually pick up Beast Boy a mile away. The boy practically wore his emotions on his sleeve.

In fact, she was picking up a familiar aura right now. Reaching out, she could sense… fear… panic… and a large amount of regret.

Yep. That was Beast Boy.

--

Beast Boy, still in the form of a cheetah, bounded up a small hill and hid behind a group of boulders at the top.

He sat down, panting, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He morphed back into his human form, with the panting and tongue still present. Risking a glance from behind his hiding place, Beast Boy could see no sign of the tyboron; meaning he was out of danger for the time being. Now he could focus on the complete mess he'd gotten himself into!

"Oh, man! I just had to go and try that horn! Why couldn't I have just left it alone?! Oooohhh! I'm such a moron!"

"It took you this long to realize that?"

Beast Boy spun around. Behind him, there stood the dark outline of a familiar hooded figure, with her arms crossed and a critical look in her glowing white eyes.

"Raven!"

The green changeling pounced on his teammate, throwing his arms around her.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you! I thought I'd be trapped here forever! How'd you find me? - Hey, why are you all black?"

Raven took hold of his arms and pulled them off of her.

"I'm glad to see you're alright, Beast Boy. But don't think that excuses you for your actions. When we return to the tower, you are going to be in serious trouble. As for this," She gestured to her body. "This is my soul-self. I left my body in our dimension, to serve as an anchor and allow me to get back."

"Really? Cool."

Beast Boy gave Raven's arm a few experimental pokes, before she slapped his hand away.

"Okay Beast Boy, enough games. Where is Herald's horn?"

"Ah. Yeah…" Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head and looked down at his shoes. "Y'see, I kinda lost it."

"You _lost_ it?"

Beast Boy stepped back as the glow in Raven's eyes seemed to get brighter.

"Whoa, hey hey! It wasn't _completely_ my fault. I mean, I got sucked into this place, and then those big ugly monsters, that we'd fought before, had me surrounded, and I had to get out of there real fast! But the horn got left behind."

Raven sighed.

"Okay. I guess we'll just have to go get it back."

"Oh jeez, do we have to? Those things could rip us to pieces! Can't you just teleport us back? I know Herald probably wants his horn back, but I'll pay for a new one."

Raven gave Beast Boy the withering look he'd come to recognize from when all the times he'd said something particularly stupid. She began counting off points on her fingers.

"Beast Boy, one; you don't have any money. Two; even if you did, a trans-dimensional gate opening horn is not something you can just walk into a store and buy. And three; no, I can't just teleport us back. When my soul is this far away from my body, my powers aren't as strong as they are normally. I can take inanimate objects with me, but if I tried to teleport a person, it would be risky."

Beast Boy grinned.

"Raven I've been hopping around the world all night, without any idea of where I was going. You think I'm scared of a little risk?"

"The risk is your body could wind up scattered between dimensions, and your soul cast into oblivion."

"… Let's go get that horn, shall we?"

--

The two Titans were hidden behind a large overgrowth of foliage. The tyboron pack was about fifteen feet away from them. Most of the animals were sleeping or slowly walking around. Both Beast Boy and Raven were scanning the area for the missing horn.

"There it is." Beast Boy whispered and pointed.

Sure enough, the instrument was lying on the ground somewhere in the middle of the pack. A particularly large tyboron was sleeping next to it.

"I guess it would've been foolish to think this was going to be easy." Raven said dryly.

"Say, Raven?" Beast Boy turned to face her. "Since you're here as your soul-self, and not in your body; what'll happen if you, y'know, get hurt?"

Raven was quiet for a few seconds before answering.

"If my soul-self takes too much damage, it could sever the connection to my body. That would mean I'd… be unable to return."

Beast Boy's ears drooped. He cast his eyes down in shame.

"Oh, man. So you're putting yourself in real danger just to save me."

"Now, don't you start, Beast Boy." Raven said sternly. "You know perfectly well that you'd do the same thing for me. Now let's just focus on getting that horn, so that we can get you home."

Beast Boy looked at Raven, but she was still facing towards the tyboron pack. He smiled and got to his feet.

"Okay, then. You stay here, and I'll go get the horn."

"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Raven said, turning to face him.

"Easy." Beast Boy grinned and looked from side to side, in a mock sneaky gesture. "Through infiltration."

He got on all fours and transformed. Raven's eyes widened slightly as he stood before her as a tyboron.

"Hmm, we should consider ourselves lucky that those things are green." She said.

Beast Boy gave her a wink and started walking over to the pack. Raven watched him as he made his way past the sleepy animals. Even if she hadn't known which one was Beast Boy, she probably would've been able to point him out. He was the one trying to look inconspicuous, and therefore sticking out like a sore thumb.

The Titan was walking, with his head held high, in an overly casual 'I'm meant to be here' sort of way. It also sounded like he was trying to whistle nonchalantly, but was having trouble due to the tusks; so it was coming out as high-pitched growls.

Raven shook her head slowly. She hoped these animals were as dumb as her books said.

Beast Boy strode among the tyboron; his steps slowing and getting quieter as he approached his objective. The horn looked undamaged. The trick was not to wake the huge beast that was sleeping next to it.

Lowering his head, Beast Boy hooked a tusk under the horn's frame. He began to lift it, when a spluttering snort caused him to freeze. The tyboron stretched in its' sleep; bringing its' large claws up, and then down around the horn.

Once he was sure the creature wasn't going to wake up, Beast Boy began to slowly ease the horn out of its' grasp. It came easily, right up until the bell. The tyboron's claws were wrapped around it, and no amount of gentle shaking was going to get it loose. The changeling mentally groaned,

'Oh _man_. It could've been a dimension opening flute or kazoo, but noooo!'

He raised his own claw and slipped it under the tyboron's. Gradually, he lifted it up enough to allow him to pull the horn free.

Straightening again, he looked down at the still sleeping animal and turned around with an air of satisfaction. As he did so, his tail slapped the ground and sent a small cloud of dust into the tyboron's face. It let out a loud sneeze that stopped Beast Boy in his tracks. He turned around to see the tyboron staring straight at him.

Of all the things he could've done, a friendly/nervous grin was probably the least helpful. But Beast Boy couldn't help it. It was reflex. Unfortunately for him, tyboron didn't have the facial features for grinning; so instead it looked like he was silently snarling at the giant before him.

The tyboron roared, awaking the rest of the pack as it did so. Once again, Beast Boy was surrounded by growling monsters.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Two beams of dark energy shot down from the sky, and bowled a few tyboron over. Beast Boy looked up to see Raven floating in the air above him.

"Come on." She motioned for him to follow as she flew away from their green assailants.

Beast Boy quickly turned back into his human self and tossed the horn into the air. He changed into a hawk, flew up and caught it in his talons. The green Titan then hurried to catch up with his teammate, as the tyboron shook themselves off and pursued them on the ground.

"Beast Boy, pass me the horn." Raven held out her hand. Beast Boy dropped the horn into her waiting palm.

"Stay airborne." She said. "I'll get this back to Herald, and he'll come get you."

Beast Boy gave out a 'caw' as a way of agreement.

Raven said her incantation again and her soul-self became a dark cyclone again, and disappeared. But, just before she vanished, she felt a pang of fear and pain come from Beast Boy.

One of the tyboron had leapt onto their leader's back and launched itself at Beast Boy. A swipe of its' claws had knocked the unsuspecting hawk out of the air, causing him to crash into the ground.

Raven felt the rush of her soul-self reentering her body. Her eyes opened, she let out a gasp and fell to the ground. The return trip was always the toughest part; especially from so far away. She became aware of Herald kneeling beside her.

"You okay?" He asked.

She sat up and reached into her cloak.

"I'll be fine. I just have to wait for my energies to realign. But Beast Boy needs help." She took her hand out of her cloak. The Gabriel's Horn was clutched in it. She handed the instrument back to its' owner. "He's in the dimension you sent the tyboron to."

"On it!"

Herald clutched the horn with both hands and blew. A wide circle appeared before him and he was through in a heartbeat.

--

A green tortoise shell bounced along the ground; a single tyboron chasing after it. The creature scooped it up into its' wide mouth and began to bite down hard. A blaring noise sounded out to its' left but, before it could turn its' head to see what it was, it was hit in the side of the face by a flying kick. The blow knocked the tyboron off its' feet, and caused the tortoise to fall out of its' mouth, where he changed back into Beast Boy.

The changeling looked up to see Herald offering him a hand.

"Thanks." Said Beast Boy, as he was pulled to his feet. He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I guess you're kinda mad at me."

"Y'know, I should be." Herald replied with a small grin. "But things always seem to get more interesting when you're around."

The boys were interrupted by a growl from the felled tyboron. It was getting back to its' feet, and the rest of the pack were coming up behind it.

"Uh oh. Not again." Said Beast Boy. He got ready to change, when Herald held a hand out.

"Leave these guys to me." He said.

"Er, are you sure? There's a lot of 'em."

"Trust me." Herald twirled his horn in his fingers as he spoke. "If there's one thing I know how to do, it's work a crowd."

The first tyboron launched itself at Herald. The horn-blower created a portal that the hapless creature dove right into. As the portal disappeared, Herald had to roll out of the way of the pack's giant leader. Having missing charging into its' target, the monster lashed out with its' tail.

"Not this time." Herald performed a back flip; dodging the attack and landing on the tyboron's back. It bucked and thrashed; trying to throw its' rider off, but Herald hung onto its' large scales.

The pack came running up to make a group attack. Straightening up on his mount, Herald aimed his horn at the ground in front of the charging animals and blew. A good number fell into the hole that appeared before they brought themselves to a halt.

Releasing his grip on the tyboron, Herald planted a foot on its' head and leapt back to solid ground. Giving itself a shake, the pack leader charged at the dark-skinned hero again. This time, Herald aimed his horn at the sky above the oncoming creature. All the tyboron that had disappeared before now fell out of the airborne portal and landed on their leader.

While the creatures tried to untangle themselves, Herald backtracked to where a gaping Beast Boy was standing.

"Hey, Beast Boy. Do me a favor and send those boulders down this way." He pointed up a nearby hill where a group of boulders stood. It was the same hill Beast Boy had hidden on earlier.

Beast Boy nodded and flew up to the top as a crow. He morphed in the air and landed on the ground in the form of a t-rex. Swinging his massive tail, he sent the boulders careening down the hill towards Herald.

Bringing his horn up again, Herald created a particularly large hole that sucked the oversized rocks into it. He turned around to see the tyboron had managed to arrange themselves properly and were on the attack again. He faced the monsters with a grin and brought the horn to his lips. As the portal opened, the boulders shot out like bullets from a gun. The first one smacked into the pack leader and sent it crashing into several others behind it. The rest of the pack turned and scattered; fleeing to avoid the sudden avalanche sent their way.

Beast Boy slid down the hill and landed beside Herald.

"Dude! That was awesome! You kicked their butts!" The changeling held his hand up and gave the hooded boy a high five. "Any chance you wanna show me how to do that?"

Herald looked at him with a cocked eyebrow.

"You're kidding, right?"

Beast Boy's face fell, but Herald just chuckled and opened a portal behind them. He let Beast Boy step through first, then looked over his shoulder at the one tyboron that had been trying to sneak up on them.

"Sorry. No encores." He gave a small wave then disappeared into the portal. It closed up just as the animal pounced, causing to crash into the ground and get a mouthful of dirt and grass.

--

The sun was high in the sky over Jump City. It was proving to be a beautiful day, with weather that would put a smile on anyone's face.

Beast Boy, however, was not smiling. He was looking gloomily at the lists of chores the other Titans had given him.

"… and then, you're going to clean out the evidence room, _without_ touching anything in the cases." Robin continued sternly.

"After which, you will bathe Silkie; and remember to floss." Starfire added.

Cyborg was next.

"And after _that_, you can buff and wax -"

"The T-Car?" Beast Boy said, brightening up.

"No, me." Cyborg pointed at his dented chestplate. "I took a pounding last night. You're going to help me get back my metallic sheen."

Beast Boy's ears drooped. He then looked the one teammate that hadn't issued any orders.

"Hey Raven, isn't there some horrible chore that _you're_ going to make me do?"

The empath shook her head.

"Oh no. I'm not squandering an opportunity like this. Since I helped save your life; you now owe me a favor. I plan to take my time and think up something I _know_ will make you wish you'd stayed with the tyboron."

A small yet evil looking smile graced Raven's face as she left the common room. Herald was leaning against the wall by the door. He watched her leave and shook his head, laughing softly.

"Well, as much as I'd love to stay and find out what it is she'll make you do; I gotta get going."

"Oh friend, you will come and visit us again, won't you?" Starfire walked up to Herald and hugged him. His masked eyes widened and his voice came out sounding choked.

"Sure Starfire, I'll do that."

Starfire released him and Robin shook his hand.

"Sorry about all the trouble." He said.

"We hope you don't catch anything from that horn." Added Cyborg. "Beast Boy's a spitter."

"Hey!" Beast Boy glared at Cyborg. He then looked at Herald and rubbed his arm awkwardly. "Though I am sorry I took your horn without asking. …Are we cool?"

"Yeah. We're cool." Herald knocked his fist against Beast Boy's. "But next time you want a dimensional tour; ask first."

The Titans said their goodbyes and Herald opened up a portal back to Dimension X. After it had closed behind the blue-clad hero, Robin turned his attention back to Beast Boy.

"Okay Beast Boy, you better get started on those chores. You've got a lot to work through."

"And I hope you've learned something from this." Cyborg called after the changeling as he walked through the main doors.

"Sure have, guys. Don't you worry. No more doing stupid stuff without thinking it through."

As the doors closed behind him, Beast Boy allowed himself a small grin.

"Except for all the really fun stupid stuff."


	7. Epilogue: A Funny Story

Cyborg leant back in his chair, patting his stomach. Usually after finishing off a large meal, such as this, he'd let out a gigantic belch. But, considering the grandeur of their surroundings, he decided that wouldn't be appropriate.

The other Titans were enjoying the change too. The fancy restaurant they were dining in was certainly different from the places that they usually went to. Although what threw them most wasn't the change of scenery. It was the fact that Beast Boy was paying for it all.

"So guys, enjoying yourselves?" Beast Boy asked his teammates.

"Oh, yes. It was most kind of you to treat us to this splendid meal." Starfire answered, while finishing off her grilled salmon topped with mustard.

Raven nodded her agreement and looked around the restaurant.

"Yeah. Nice place, good food, fancy music." She whipped her head around to glare at Beast Boy. "What's the catch?"

"No catch." Beast Boy held his hands up defensively. "I just wanted to treat you guys. Y'know, show you how much I appreciate all of you."

He made little circles on the table surface with his finger.

"And if this little gesture should make you want to cut some of my chores from the list; well, that's just an added bonus."

Robin rubbed his chin and looked at Beast Boy with narrowed eyes.

"What I want to know is; where did all this money come from? You're usually flat broke."

Beast Boy grinned and gave a little snicker.

"Well, it's actually a funny story."

--

(A few days ago)

A message box popped up on a computer screen, which served as the only source of light in an otherwise dark and shadowy room. A tall figure reached out and tapped a key on the computer. The message box opened.

_From eBay_

_To Deathstroke80_

_Congratulations. You have won the auction for the item put up by Green-Machine:_

_One 'Supervillain face mask'._

_You may expect your purchase to arrive in the mail in 3-5 days._

_Thank you for your patronage._

The figure clasped his fist in a small 'boo-yah' gesture, and said in a quiet voice,

"Yesss."

END


End file.
